Chapter 664: I'm just doing the right thing
Chapter 664 I’m just doing the right thing
"Believe me, Professor Umbridge, I'm not trying to hide anything. In fact, my owl flew to the Ministry of Magic three hours ago."
In the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, Kyle looked at the glaring Umbridge and said calmly: "There are very detailed investigation results, which are all the information I recently obtained from Hagrid."
"I hope you're not lying to me," Umbridge snapped, not even using her usual cooing voice.
"Of course not." Kyle shook his head, "If I had known that Professor you would come back early, I wouldn't have let the owl deliver the letter to the Ministry of Magic."
Umbridge returned early, and on the afternoon when Kyle locked Harry in the Room of Requirement, she stormed into the castle with undisguised fury.
"I shouldn't have left school." Umbridge gritted her teeth and said, "Tell me what you found."
"Someone is writing to Dumbledore," Kyle said calmly, "and a lot of people."
Umbridge stared at Kyle with a scrutinizing gaze. After hearing what he said, she nodded slowly. "It seems you didn't lie to me."
"Of course not." Kyle asked, "Professor, how do you know about this?"
“You are not alone in this school,” Umbridge said meaningfully. “The Minister wants to see you.”
"Great." Kyle said happily: "Shall we go to the Ministry of Magic now?"
"Of course, the sooner the better." Umbridge grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace.
“Hurry up, don’t keep the minister waiting too long.”
Kyle was slightly surprised.
After all, in Hogwarts, except for the principal's office, the fireplaces in other places are not connected to the Floo network, including the professor's office.
However, Kyle quickly thought that if Umbridge wanted to open a floo network for the fireplace in her office, it would not be difficult.
He walked calmly into the fireplace and shouted: "Ministry of Magic!"
The next second, Kyle found himself in the main hall of the Ministry of Magic. The entire corridor here was filled with fireplaces, and wizards walked in or came out of it every moment.
Soon, Umbridge came too.
“Follow me,” she said, and then she led Kyle through the crowd and strode towards the elevator without any intention of covering up.
Even in the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge is very famous. Everyone they meet along the way will make a way out in advance and greet Umbridge warmly.
But where Umbridge couldn't see them, they would immediately put on another look of disgust.
It’s just that Umbridge didn’t know this. She was like a toad with a stiff neck, striding ahead with her neck held high.
Soon, they arrived at the elevator.
Umbridge chose the one that just came out.
Even though there were many people waiting outside, no one came in until the golden fence in front of the elevator was closed... There were only two people in the elevator, Umbridge and Kyle.
Judging from Umbridge's appearance, she seems to have been used to this for a long time and doesn't think there is anything wrong with it.
“Professor, what does the minister want from me?” Kyle couldn’t help but ask.
"You'll know when we get there." Umbridge glanced at Kyle and didn't answer.
Kyle nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.
Because there was no one else, the elevator reached its destination quickly.
"The first floor." The emotionless female voice said: "The minister's office, including the office of the senior deputy minister, the office of the assistant minister, and the logistics department."
They stepped out of the elevator and walked forward along the corridor.
Kyle noticed that there was a very impressive golden door with the name of the Minister's Office on it. But the strange thing is that Umbridge did not stop here, but continued to walk forward, until she reached the end of the corridor, in front of a door labeled Pantry.
Umbridge's previous arrogance disappeared, and turned into a flattering look as she stepped forward and knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Fudge’s voice came from inside.
After receiving the agreement, Umbridge opened the door.
This is a room about the same size as a classroom at Hogwarts, with only one person in it.
“Minister,” Umbridge said respectfully.
"Well, thank you for your hard work, Dolores." Fudge nodded. He looked at Kyle and forced a smile, "Sorry kid, I called you over during the holiday."
"It's okay, Mr. Minister." Kyle said sincerely: "I would rather do something more meaningful than a boring vacation."
“It’s rare for you to think so.” Fudge laughed again, much more naturally than before.
“Hypocritical fellow.” Umbridge cursed in her mind, but she still smiled on the surface.
"Sit down quickly." Fudge pointed to the seat opposite him. "What do you like to drink, butterbeer? Or black tea. I would say red currant rum is the best, but you are not an adult yet, right? no."
“Then butterbeer.”
As soon as Kyle finished speaking, there was a bottle of butterbeer on the table in front of him. Judging from the looks of it, the bottle should be a product of the Leaky Cauldron.
"I just received your letter." Fudge said casually: "To be honest, I have never seen such a big owl, and Delis swore that it was a brand new magical animal."
“Laton is usually a glutton, so he has grown a bit bigger.” Kyle said with a smile.
“So what you wrote in the letter is true?” Fudge said suddenly, “Someone has been contacting Dumbledore recently?”
Umbridge on the side frowned and glanced at Kyle intentionally or unintentionally.
Although Fudge's words proved that Kyle had indeed written a letter, Umbridge did not expect that the letter was not sent to her, but was sent directly to Fudge, which made her very unhappy.
But in front of Fudge, she couldn't show it, so she could only keep it in her mind, preparing to settle the score with Kyle when she returned to Hogwarts.
“Indeed.”
Kyle didn't know what Umbridge was thinking. He put down the butterbeer in his hand and said, "As far as I know, Dumbledore has been in contact with wizards who are very famous in the wizarding world recently. MacPhail, Nicolas Flamel and Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons.
“Of course, there must be others. They did not communicate directly, and they were all relayed by Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts.
It’s just that Hagrid’s... well, he has a strong sense of confidentiality. I haven’t seen the content of the letter, and I don’t know what they are doing. "
“Of course it’s to fight against the Ministry of Magic!” Fudge’s expression suddenly became distorted and he slapped the table hard.
"It's not that serious." Kyle whispered, "It might be for other things..."
“No, you underestimate them too much.” Fudge turned to look at Umbridge, “Show it to him.”
"But..." Umbridge hesitated.
"It doesn't matter, Kyle is one of our own, we can trust him completely." Foley said.
There was no other way, even if she didn't want to, Umbridge could only take out an opened letter and put it on the table.
Kyle saw the above clearly.
【You should have done this long ago, Albus, I'll see you on the 20th. 】
Kyle almost laughed out loud. This letter was so familiar to him. It was supposed to be sent to Hagrid, but it ended up here in Umbridge.
Needless to say, someone must have attacked the owl delivering the letter and snatched the letter away.
Of course, although he knew what was going on, Kyle still pretended to be confused and asked: "Professor, what is this?"
“The letters exchanged between Dumbledore and those people are also evidence of their attempts to rebel against the Ministry of Magic.”
Umbridge said in an exaggerated voice: "I simply can't imagine that such an appalling thing could happen in Hogwarts."
Then, there was a bit of pride in her tone. "They even added anti-peep magic to the envelope. As long as someone tries to open the envelope, the letter inside will be automatically destroyed, but I was able to crack it in the end."
Kyle blinked. Didn't they use anti-Muggle magic? How did it become an anti-peep magic that can automatically destroy letters? Does the Owl Post Office still have this kind of business?
This is obviously asking for credit. If he hadn't known the truth, he might have been fooled by her.
Looking at Umbridge, who was so smug and seemed to be waiting for Fudge to praise her, Kyle almost laughed out loud... Fortunately, he held it back.
"I think we should capture that Rubeus Hagrid. As long as he is handed over to the Aurors for interrogation, maybe we can know what Dumbledore's purpose is." Umbridge was talking to herself. He didn't notice that Fudge's face was getting more and more ugly.
Fudge has been very irritable these days. He feels that his position as Minister of Magic is seriously threatened, and this is stronger than ever.
It started two days ago when someone saw the phoenix delivering a letter to Dean Sacia at St. Mungo's.
In the magical world, only Dumbledore has a phoenix.
Now that the phoenix appears in St. Mungo's, does it mean that Dumbledore is wooing Sacia, the dean of St. Mungo's?
Fudge wasn't sure, but that didn't stop him from thinking so.
Because Sacia has a pivotal position in the magical world, her potions have saved too many people. If she sides with Dumbledore, it will definitely affect a large number of people, and even many people who originally supported him will immediately switch sides.
Fortunately, no news has come out so far, which shows that Dean Sacia did not agree immediately.
Fudge naturally would not sit still, so he wanted to hint to Malfoy and prepare him to donate a sum of money to St. Mungo's in the name of the Ministry of Magic.
He had done this before when he needed prestige, and Malfoy was happy to pay a sum of money in exchange for the friendship of the Ministry of Magic.
But what Fudge didn’t expect was that he had not received a reply even though the letter had been sent for several days.
This has never happened before.
Two unreasonable things happened at the same time, which made Fudge feel uneasy, fearing that even Malfoy would turn to Dumbledore's side.
He is very aware of the methods used by the Malfoy family to win people's hearts, and no one will remain indifferent if they scatter a lot of gold and gallons.
Coupled with the letters sent by Umbridge and Kyle today, Fudge was going crazy.
Especially among the names Kyle just mentioned is Nicoléme... a legendary alchemy master who has lived for more than 600 years and has a magic stone in his hand. It is no exaggeration to say that I want to be friends with him. of wizards can line up from London to Paris.
If this is true, then he has absolutely no chance of winning.
Fudge doesn't want to lose his position as Minister of Magic, he must resist.
But now there is no news that is good for him... No, maybe there is a way.
Although it is a bit risky, this is currently the only way he can turn defeat into victory.
Fudge's face looked uncertain.
But at this moment, Umbridge was still talking about her plan, and the chattering voice made him extremely irritated.
“You go out first.” Fudge said suddenly.
"What?" Umbridge was stunned for a moment, and then said quickly: "Believe me, Minister, as long as Rubeus Hagrid identifies Dumbledore, we can have the Aurors capture him and bring him to the Ministry of Magic. Then..."
“Get out!” Without warning, Fudge grabbed the wine glass in front of him and threw it on Umbridge’s head.
“Dumbledore will replace me soon... If you bring him to the Ministry of Magic, do you want me to step down a few days earlier?”
"No, Minister, I didn't..." Umbridge was frightened and said tremblingly, "I just want to help you share your worries..."
But Fudge didn't listen to her explanation at all and pointed in the direction of the door again. "Go away, if you want to work at the pest advisory office, just stay here!"
This time Umbridge did not dare to stay any longer, and almost rolled out of the tea room.
Kyle also stood up, "Then Minister, I too..."
"No, Kyle, it has nothing to do with you." Fudge tried to force a smile, "I just don't want that idiot to interrupt our conversation, where we just talked."
“Correspondence between Dumbledore and others,” Kyle said.
"Ah, that's it." Fudge rubbed his forehead, "You and that Rubeus, um...what are your names?"
“Hagrid,” Kyle said.
“Yes, how is your relationship with him?”
"Not bad." Kyle said, "He always thought that I supported Dumbledore, so he was very friendly to me.
“Do you want me to help find out the contents of other letters?”
"You are indeed smarter than that idiot." Fudge looked at Kyle, "I need to know what actions they took on the 20th, and whether it is related to the Ministry of Magic... This is very important."
"No problem, Minister, leave it to me." Kyle promised, patting his chest: "In addition, my relationship with Ms. Maxim, including Mr. McPhail, is also pretty good. Maybe I can give it a try and see if it works. They cannot be persuaded to support the Ministry."
"This is the best news I have heard today." Fudge's frown seemed to relax a little, "Thank you for your hard work. If you need anything, just ask, and the Ministry of Magic will fully support you."
"I'm just doing the right thing, how can it be hard work." Kyle said seriously.
“You are right, we are doing the right thing.”
Even Fudge, who had been feeling anxious recently, couldn't help laughing at this time.
“I really hope you can graduate early and come to work at the Ministry of Magic. I’ve even prepared your office for you, it’s right next door.”
He pointed to the wall behind Kyle.
“Senior Assistant Minister, to be honest, no one has ever held such an important position when they first joined the Ministry of Magic, but I think you deserve this honor.”
"It's my pleasure, Mr. Minister," Kyle said with a smile.
The tea room was suddenly filled with a happy atmosphere.
…
By the time Kyle returned to Hogwarts, it was already evening.
He had just come out of the fireplace, and before he could stand still, Umbridge came over angrily. Before he arrived, the sound of scolding could be heard.
“You are so brave!”
Kyle raised his eyebrows, "I don't understand what you mean, Professor."
"How dare you write directly to the minister." Umbridge said sullenly, "Do you know how much time this will take up the minister's time?"
"Sorry." Kyle said casually: "Maybe I was careless and wrote the name wrong. Anyway, you will have to show the letter to the minister later, so it should be fine."
Wrong name?
Umbridge laughed angrily, she didn't believe such a poor excuse.
But now is not the time to pursue this. Umbridge now just wants to know why Fudge was angry with herself just now.
“Tell me the contents of that letter, and maybe I can forgive you.”
"Sorry, Professor, this is confidential information, no comment..." Kyle said lightly: "Please give way, you are blocking my way."
"What tone are you talking about!" Umbridge screamed: "I don't believe you wrote the wrong name. You did it on purpose. As punishment, I will put you in confinement for a month."
“If you insist, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Kyle said indifferently: "But Professor Umbridge, Minister Fudge gave me a new task. If it is delayed because of your confinement, I'm afraid you will really go to the Pest Consultation Office. You like to work there very much." Do you work there?"
Umbridge's head was so angry that she stood there gasping for air.
Is this a threat? It must be!
Before today, she had never thought that Kyle would dare to speak to her in this tone one day, which made Umbridge a little unacceptable for a while.
But Kyle didn't care and naturally walked around Umbridge and came to the door.
"Oh, by the way..." When Kyle just walked out, he suddenly thought of something and turned around and said, "According to Minister Fudge's request, you need to follow my command for the next actions."
"This is impossible!" Umbridge shouted: "I am the Deputy Minister of Magic and the Senior Inquisitor of Hogwarts, and you are just a student who has not graduated."
"I know, but the minister did arrange it this way. If you don't believe it, you can confirm it." Kyle said with a smile, "I wish you good luck, Professor."
Then Kyle walked out of the office and closed the door for Umbridge.
The next second, there was a sudden crackling sound inside, as if someone had smashed the vase.
(End of this chapter)